Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has slammed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his recent presidential pardon, describing it as a reckless abuse of power that weakens justice and encourages crime.
In a statement shared on his official Facebook page on Sunday, Atiku said the announcement of the pardon “has, as expected, provoked outrage across the nation.”
He explained that while the power of presidential pardon is “a solemn prerogative, a moral and constitutional instrument designed to temper justice with mercy,” Tinubu’s recent decision “has done the very opposite.”
Atiku says Tinubu’s decision sends a dangerous message
Atiku said granting clemency to people convicted of serious crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and corruption undermines the sanctity of justice and sends a dangerous message to both Nigerians and the international community about the values of the government.
He called the move shocking and indefensible, especially when the country is battling insecurity, moral decline, and rising drug abuse among young people.
The former vice president also noted that “29.2% of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related crimes at a time when our youth are being destroyed by narcotics, and our nation is still struggling to cleanse its image from the global stain of drug offences.”
‘Clemency must not become complicity,’ Atiku warns
Atiku questioned the moral position of President Tinubu in issuing such pardons, saying:
“Even more disturbing is the moral irony that this act of clemency is coming from a President whose own past remains clouded by unresolved and unexplained issues relating to the forfeiture of thousands of dollars to the United States government over drug-related investigations.”
He added that the action “symbolizes a mockery of the criminal justice system, an affront to victims, a demoralization of law enforcement, and a grave injury to the conscience of the nation.”
Atiku warned that “clemency must never be confused with complicity,” adding that when a government absolves offenders of crimes it claims to fight, “it erodes the moral authority of leadership and emboldens lawlessness.”
He concluded: “Nigeria deserves a leadership that upholds justice, not one that trivializes it.”
